Floods were always a risk in small Ohio River towns. The best river folks expected was co-existence. In 884, when to 19 th century's biggest flood washed out Chilo's streets and the river crested 71.1 feet in Cincinnati, people started to wonder of their ancestors made the right decision to settle here. In 1913, when the second worst Ohio flood of 69.9 feet dispersed neighboring Rural, people in Chilo refused to leave. But many changed their minds after 1937, when the flood, The Big Washout, drove away so many people that Chilo's future changed. Today, the community's problems can be traced directly to the bleak month of January, 1937, when the river took control again and the 35-mile stretch between Chilo and Cincinnati became a lake on top of a river. Battered and quiet, Chilo sits in a wooded area several hundred feet from U.S. route 52 which winds along the Ohio and bypasses what is left of the town by a few hundred feet. Every day, several thousand people drive past Chilo and don't even see it. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.